Madhura Patil

Humans of YJA, September 3rd, 2020

I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign last May and decided to take a year to live abroad and pursue a lifelong dream of mine. After 22 years of watching Bollywood movies, I had fallen in love with the industry and was itching to explore my creative passions. Shortly after I graduated, I landed in Mumbai. I didn’t know anyone there, nor did I have any experience in the industry, so it was a fresh start — but I was determined to make the most out of my journey.

Once I settled in, I prioritized connecting with creatives in the entertainment industry. Being new was definitely tough; in the beginning, I spent hours every day cold-emailing and calling people to find opportunities. For every 40–50 messages I sent out, only 1–2 would genuinely reply. Eventually, work started to pour in; one project led to another, and soon, I began to assist in advertisements and films featuring celebrities I had only ever seen on screen. Once I got a handle of assistant directing, I dabbled in acting and modeling as well to get the full experience of working in Bollywood.

Even through all of the enjoyable moments, there were times I started to question what I was doing. At the end of the day, I realized all I can do is make myself better in every way, so when it comes down to it I’m confident in my abilities and feel inspired by the experiences that took me on an unconventional journey. There’s a lot of frustrations, sacrificing, and negotiating with yourself when trying something different. It was tough, but honestly, I wouldn’t change this experience for anything.